Fractional COO for consumer brands
Your brand has outgrown its operations. Not its potential.
I help founder-led DTC and wholesale brands between $2M and $20M scale fulfilment, channels and team, without hiring a full-time COO. I've done it before: Lovehoney Australia, $0 to $65M.
- Online Retailer of the Year 2023 · Top 50 People in Ecommerce · National Retail Association Advisory Board
YOUR OPTIONS
When operations start to creak, most founders try one of four things
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Hire a COO.
$200k+, months to find, and a costly mistake if it's the wrong person.
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Push through themselves.
The founder becomes the bottleneck.
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Lean on an agency.
Great for traffic, but they don't run warehouses, stock or teams.
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Bring in a big consultancy.
A sharp deck, then they leave before the hard part.
A BETTER WAY
A senior operator who has scaled a consumer brand before, works inside your business every week, and costs a fraction of a full-time hire. That's a fractional COO.
What changes
Three things I fix in growing consumer brands
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Scale without operations breaking
Fulfilment, 3PLs, stock, systems and staffing sequenced so they keep pace with revenue.
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A senior operator, without the senior hire
Weekly involvement with you and your leadership team, decisions made faster, and a roadmap each team actually executes.
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New channels that add margin
Wholesale, retail partners and international expansion, built so they lift profit, not just revenue.
PROOF
Built and proven in consumer brands
"Rob was an outstanding advisor to the TGE Executive team and I through the launch of our TGE ecommerce offering. He has a rare ability to move between high-level strategy and the operational detail that makes a launch succeed, and the retailer adoption we achieved speaks to that."
“Having worked closely with Rob as a key supplier during his time as Director at Lovehoney, I was always impressed by his depth of knowledge across operations, warehousing and supply chain. He combines strong commercial thinking with a practical, hands-on approach and a genuine ability to get things done.”
"Rob is an experienced business leader and trusted advisor who understands how to translate strategy into action. His extensive experience across ecommerce, retail and business transformation, combined with his practical approach, makes him a valuable partner for organisations looking to accelerate growth and deliver results."
CREDENTIALS
As seen in
Queen's Birthday Honours Business Award for International Trade
2016 & 2021
Australia Post ORIAS Awards
Hall of Fame 2023
Inside Retail Online Retailer of the Year
2023
RETHINK Retail Top Retail Experts
2024 & 2025
Inside Retail's Top 50 People in Ecommerce
#3 2022 & 2023
ABOUT
About Rob
Rob Godwin is the founder of Future Ecom, helping founders and executives build and scale retail and ecommerce brands from the ground up. His own track record started with his own business at University, and continued over 20 years to Lovehoney Australia.
He grew Lovehoney from a spare bedroom to $65 million market leading DTC in under ten years, building a 4,500sqm distribution centre, delivering eight consecutive years of double-digit growth as part of a global business turning over more than US$600 million.
He has since advised founders and CEOs in many businesses, C-suite leaders and boards at Team Global Express, the National Retail Association, and Australia Post. Rob has been named among Australia's Top 50 People in Ecommerce, and is a two-time Hall of Fame award winner with Australia Post's Online Retailer of the Year.
Rob dedicates time to NFP in creating business opportunities for community groups and fundraising, including the new Australian Men's Circle - a national conference for promoting and educating positive masculinity
QUESTIONS
Frequently asked questions
Is this marketing help?
No. I work on operations, channels and team, and I partner with your agency on the marketing side.
We're under $2M. Is it too early?
Usually yes. A diagnostic can still set the foundations, but the full engagement suits $2–20M.
HOW IT WORKS
How working with Rob works
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Step 1: 20-min intro call
A no-obligation conversation about where the business is and what is holding it back.
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Step 2: Diagnostic
Rob reviews your numbers, operations and team to pinpoint the few changes that matter most.
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Step 3: Proposal
A clear scope, timeline and fee for the support that fits, so you can decide with confidence.
CONTACT
Let's work together
Get in touch to discuss ideas, problems, opportunities, projects, or just to talk through where your business is at. Help and advice is only one email or phone call away.
- rob@futureecom.com.au
- +61 (0)419 266 788
- Meanjin (Brisbane) & Byron Bay